From Livingston Public Schools

Dear Livingston,

We hope that you are enjoying your summer!

In this edition:

•  Livingston Board of Education
• Important Dates
• Construction Update
•  District News
• Student Achievements
• Community Opportunities

Livingston Board of Education

The Livingston Board of Education will hold a voting meeting on July 18 at 4:15 p.m. in the Board of Education Administrative Office, 11 Foxcroft Drive. The next meeting will be at August 15 at 4:15 p.m. in the same location.

Important Dates

• The week of July 25th -LPS Parents STARS Account Information mailed to parents.
• August 6 –LHS Schedules will be available on STARS.
• August 22-Middle School Schedules and Elementary School teacher assignments will be available on STARS.
• September 6 – First Day of School for all students.

Construction Update

• Just a reminder that is continuing at Livingston Public Schools this summer. We are asking all families to stay away from the schools during this period unless students are participating in an activity at a school. Board Administrator Steven Robinson said he anticipates that the first phase of the project should be completed on schedule by the middle of August. Phase two, work on the individual classrooms, will begin Sept. 1 with a completion date for all of the work on target for the summer of 2010. Workers are busy removing old air conditioning units and installing new windows. They are renovating bathrooms, replacing them with new more modernized facilities that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. They are tearing down old ceiling tiles and preparing for electrical service upgrades, installing new duct work and renovating the Mount Pleasant Middle and Heritage Middle School auditoriums. Laborers will also replace old HVAC unites which will provide air conditioning in all classrooms and install Automatic Temperature Control systems.

District News

• More than 160 teachers and administrators participated in the Marzano Training, a program on “The Art and Science of Teaching.” Two more of the two-day sessions will be offered to teachers in the District later this summer. Many teachers will also participate in special Technology Workshops at LHS July 11^th-15^th.

• The Livingston High School Guidance Department will have special summer hours with one counselor in the office July 26-28, Aug. 2-4, 16-18 and 23-25. After the high school schedules are available on STARS Aug. 5, six counselors will be available Aug. 8-12 to accommodate any schedule changes. The Heritage Middle School Guidance Department will have a guidance counselor in the office July 11-14, 20, Aug. 1-5 and 22-26. Mount Pleasant Middle School’s Guidance Department will have a counselor available July 20 and 26 and Aug. 29.

• The members of the SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Committee) would like to make sure that all parents of students with disabilities know how to contact the student’s home school SEPAC representative. You should contact your representative if you have any questions regarding the navigation of the special education system.  Please refer to the Livingston Public Schools website for a list of representatives click  SEPAC Representatives.

 Student Achievements

• Heritage Middle School student Sora Nithikasem hosted workshops and welcomed delegates at the World Children’s Festival at the National Mall in Washington D.C. June 17^th to 19^th. The festival is held every four years and is organized by the International Child Art Foundation. In one of her workshops, Sora had participants create origami paper cranes and write messages of hope on them for the victims of the tsunami in Japan. In 2007, Sora attended the festival as a winner of the 3rd Arts Olympiad and as a New Jersey delegate.

• Mount Pleasant Elementary School students Gabriella Izversky and Helen Yang, Heritage Middle School student Iris Peng and Livingston High School student Karen Xu are the winners of the bookmark competition at the Livingston Public Library and were honored at the library last month.

• Twenty-two Livingston High School students participated in the Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference held at the end of June in Orlando, Florida. The students qualified for the conference by placing first or second in the state competition held in March. More than 8,300 students and advisors attended the event. Of the 22 LHS students, seven of them placed in the event. Peter Yao came in second place in the Personal Finance category while Ben Leff, Eric MacBlane and Eric Mong took second place in the Emerging Business Issues category. Sandy Ng took fourth place in the Business Procedures category and Justine Jang received fifth place and Sharon Chen eighth place in the Intro to Parli Pro category.

Community Opportunities

• The Livingston Police Department is inviting township children to create a slogan for this year’s National Night Out, Aug. 2. The slogan will appear on T-shirts that will be distributed at the event. The winner will receive a T-shirt autographed by the chief of police and mayor as well as other prizes. The contest is open to children who live in Livingston and are currently in kindergarten through grade 12. For information, visit www.livingstonnj.org/commpolice-dare.html.

• A new “Shining Star” Sports League: A League for Exceptional Children, offered by the new Senior, Youth and Leisure Services League for children with special needs, is accepting registration for its fall soccer program. The program is open to residents and non-residents and will run from Sept. 17 to Nov. 6, 9:30-10:30 a.m. for the junior league for ages 5-9 and 11 a.m. to noon for the senior league for ages 10-16 at the Monmouth Court Community Center. Other programs to be offered include basketball, floor hockey and t-ball/baseball . The cost is $75 per sport. To register, visit http://livingstonsyls.org or enroll at the SYLS office at the Livingston Senior/Community Center on Hillside Avenue, Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, including program qualifications, and volunteer signup (training will be provided), contact SYLS Adaptive Recreation Coordinator Mark Silance at (973) 535-7925 or email msilance@livingstonnj.org.

E-News will not be sent out weekly during the summer, however there will be a few editions with pertinent information to prepare you for the upcoming school year.

Thank you and have a wonderful summer!

Take care,

Allison Freeman Interim Manager, Communications and Community Outreach

Livingston Public Schools